Robe lighting was named a technical partner for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), staged at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. The 70th edition of the show was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF).
The lighting design, featuring nearly 550 Robe fixtures, was created by Tim Routledge and his team, working on their third ESC event, and collaborating with set, video and production designer Florian Wieder.
Prominent on the lighting rig were 190 of Robe’s just-launched GigaPointe laser-source multifunctional moving light, 98 WTF!s – IP rated LED strobe-wash-blinder fixtures – and 25 Robe HolyPATT vintage-style LED ‘scenic’ luminaires as well as 182 Robe SVB1 multisource LED wash beams.
Routledge specified 64 Robe iFORTES and iFORTE LTXs – fitted with the HCF (High Colour Fidelity) engines – for all the key lighting and specials on the main stage and in the Green Room, this year located in the arena opposite the stage along the other ‘short-end’ side of the venue.
A large, sweeping ‘signature’ passerelle feature with video floor started at ground level stage left and looped around the middle of the room in front of the stage, curving upwards at stage right in a giant rollercoaster-style loop, snaking around to finish high up in the roof stage left.
A portrait-oriented central LED screen curved from above into the stage floor below and extended into a central thrust that traversed the arena floor, splitting into a double staircase at the other side, ascending to the Green Room. Lighting and playback video combined with the other technical disciplines and worked as a piece of televisual art. The central screen was framed either side by seven columns of moving lights.
Routledge’s team included Associate Lighting Designers, Morgan Evans and James Scott; Moving Light Programmers, Alex Mildenhall and Martin Higgins; Key Light Programmer, Marc Nicholson; Overnight Programmers, Olly Martin and Manfred Nikitzer; Followspot Caller, Louisa Smurthwaite and Playback Video Producer, Sam Lisher and team. His Gaffer and Crew Chief was Keith Duncan.
All lighting equipment for the event was supplied by rental company Neg Earth Lights, with whom Routledge also worked on last year’s event and on his first ESC as lighting designer in Liverpool.
GigaPointes, launched at ISE in February, were prominent along the top of the front sections of the passerelle and underslung below its elevated sections upstage. They were rigged around the central semi-circular trusses in the roof, right at the heart of the rig, and were on all four sides of the main stage at floor level.
GigaPointes were used extensively throughout all performances, especially for gobo and beam looks, with the SpectraBeam effect utilised a couple of times to create unique high-impact effects, most notably for San Marino, which comprised rainbow focussed looks.
They also featured prominently in the flourishing ‘stage-ready’ sequence that cut in just after the postcard video sequence – in the upcoming country’s flag colours – for each contestant’s intro, accompanied by an orchestral stinger.
Evans commented: “They were excellent workhorses – we all loved them! Nice and bright, they worked hard, reliably and extremely well throughout the event in these multiple different positions. A highly versatile multi-use product.”
Routledge echoed: “GigaPointes provided us with an aesthetic backbone,” revealing that he was so pleased with their performance that he’s specified them for Take That’s summer 2026 “Circus” stadium tour.
Around 98 Robe WTF!s were the main strobe unit on the lighting design, deployed on the roof trusses running the length of the room either side, and on the large central ‘crown’ semi-circular trusses – the innermost ring – above the stage, alternated with GigaPointes and other fixtures.
“I love their directionality, and we fully used all the sets of LED chips and the zoning for various effects,” Routledge explained. “There are lots of options for TV with these.”
iFORTES were positioned all around the arena on the periphery trusses and the two outer ring trusses above the stage. Twelve of the 64 iFORTES were paired with different remote follow systems, including three Robe RoboSpots. These iFORTES were used for all the main stage key lighting and were critical to every shot. “They are one of the best – I absolutely would not be without iFORTES on a show like this,” Routledge confirmed.
Neg Earth had also made a substantial investment in SVB1 luminaires, delivered by Robe UK. The fixtures were spread out around three of the four large circular roof trusses and helped emphasise the structure. They created the base looks for a host of versatile twinkling kinetic effects, which could be bold or subtle depending on the artist.
The Green Room design stood out this year for its retro, cosy, classic Viennese-style coffee house concept, and the 25 HolyPATTS were beyond the perfect movie prop for framing this, providing a highly stylised spherical ‘tungsten’ glow, visible in every wide and medium-wide shot.
The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra was positioned in the Green Room for the grand finale, and they were also dressed with HolyPATTS behind their risers. “It enabled us to add more texture and finesse to every performance,” Routledge stated.
LiveEdit camera software was used to cut the broadcast mix could also pre-select different colour LUTs that would run on all cameras for the different artists, so more stylised lighting looks and treatments could be developed and optimised. Routledge described this process as “very satisfying, as it effectively gave us more chance to paint with light.”
